We are living in a world with a live and thriving “on-demand” economy.

From having the choice to watch your favorite TV shows on your own time and schedule, to ordering meals and groceries through your mobile phone or online.

Companies seem to have finally figured it out…

Time is of the essence!

People seem to be willing to pay for their precious time to avoid time-consuming, mundane tasks. And with so many efficiencies taking place in different aspects of people’s lives, consumers are getting accustomed to speedy services so they can get back to what’s most important to them.

This phenomenon has us thinking… Is the future of dining digitization?

On this episode of On Foodable Feature, we learn from Stas Matviyenko, CEO and co-founder of Allset—a San Francisco-based application that aims to help restaurants provide a more efficient dining experience to guests who are short for time.

Watch the full interview to learn how this app can help increase a restaurant operation’s bottom line, how the technology integration would look like, and costs associated with the service!

It’s been a little over six years after recreational cannabis was legalized in the state of Colorado through Amendment 64 and the impact has been huge on many fronts. In this episode of Chef AF, our host Chef Jim Berman sits down with Denver-resident, Chef Brandon Foster to talk about one way the cannabis industry has unexpectedly impacted the food service industry.

The gentlemen also dish about the Colorado food scene, culinary trends across the nation, as well as, the Denver work environment for chefs.

“It’s a very homegrown scene and everybody has worked kind of with everybody, so to speak. And, you know, there’s not necessarily a lot of bad blood or competition. Yeah you want to succeed but you want to see your friends succeed too,” says Chef Foster. “And that’s an environment between restaurants where that’s not always the case in a big city...I think this is something that sets us apart, if you will.”

Chef Foster started his culinary career by working in hotels and then went on to work for restaurants. About three years ago, he made a change to work for a non-profit, Project Angel Heart, an organization that makes medically-tailored meals for people who are living with life threatening illnesses.

Listen to the podcast above to hear the full conversation about the positive and not so positive impact of the cannabis industry on Colorado and, more specifically, the foodservice industry!

Show Notes:

1:21 - Meeting Chef Brandon Foster of Project Angel Heart

3:58 - Restaurant Industry trends happening in Denver, Colorado

8:48 - Describing the Colorado food scene

14:23 - What do you look for food trends-wise when traveling?

19:20 - Cannabis legalization impact on restaurant industry

23:16 - Positive impact of CBD on a local farmer and what he decided to do with his farmland

In this episode of On Foodable, we’re exploring the latest industry craze: Cannabidiol. Popularly known as CBD, this cannabis compound has non-psychoactive effects, unlike those felt from ingesting substances containing THC. In recent months, CBD and its uses have not only increased in popularity amongst health and wellness fans, but have also gained traction from the medical community. This trend isn’t going anywhere, as science begins to support the overwhelming anecdotal evidence in the herb’s favor. Studies have found that CBD helps boost gut health, decreases inflammation, and can be as effective as anti-anxiety drugs.

Today, CBD can be found in almost anything; from gummies and chocolate bars to honey and bitters, there are plenty of ways CBD can be used that you might not have thought of, making Culinary Cannabis one of our most watched trends. During this episode, we’ll take a closer look at a few CBD-infused products that are taking the industry by storm.

Cordial Organics

Cordial Organics is anew generation of clean beauty products formulated with CBD to help you change the way you think about your skin and body. All of their products are made with CBD, extracted through a supercritical CO2 process from medicinal grade hemp grown in the USA, meaning they offer one of the cleanest forms of CBD extract possible. In addition to their beauty line, they’ve created a few edible products, including “Celebrate Bitters.” With just ½ - 1 dropper of the bitters to any beverage or cocktail, you can feel relaxed instantly without the “out of sorts” feeling, thanks to the low dosage of CBD.

Luce Farm

Hemp farmers Joe and Rebecca, both firm believers in natural living and healing alternatives, are the husband and wife duo running Luce Farm in Vermont. Although CBD can be found in many plants, the compound is most abundant in the hemp plant, which Joe and Rebecca grow, process, extract, and test right on their farm site! Luce Farm has created many products, including Hemp Honey. Each jar contains its high-quality CBD extract with certified organic coconut oil and raw Vermont honey. Each teaspoon of honey contains 10 mg of CBD for a total of 360 mg of CBD per jar.

Just CBD

Just CBD was founded on the premise that CBD is nature’s secret miracle. When taking a look at the industry, they felt the CBD business was consistently misrepresented and taken advantage of. Just CBD makes it their mission to keep customers aware of what’s in their products with the help of world-class labs that do all of their testings. Just CBD Peach Rings offer 500mg of CBD per jar, which equates to 25mg of CBD per piece.

Kickback CBD Cold Brew

Not only is Kickback’s CBD cold brew coffee organic, gluten free, and vegan… it’s also a perfect balance between caffeine and hemp to give your body the energy surge it needs without jitters or overstimulation. Instead of forcing your body to adjust to high levels of caffeine from regular coffee, Kickback has made a “functional chill” possible by adding CBD to their 100% single origin and shade-grown coffee beans that are infused with the highest quality hemp available. Their concept is “energetic harmony,” a calm, energizing feeling felt from drinking their CBD coffee.

New Age Beverages Corporation

New Age Beverages Corporation plans to be the leader in CBD health drinks, according to Forbes. The company recently announced their plans to release a line of CBD infused drinks under their current relaxation beverages Mellow Mood, inspired by reggae legend Bob Marley to promote mindful, healthy living. Marley+CBD Mellow Mood is packaged in 15.5-ounce cans and contain 25mg of pharmaceutical grade CBD per serving in three different flavors: Herbal Honey, Lemon Raspberry, and Peach Raspberry. “After successful showcasing of the Marley CBD line at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco this month, New Age received orders from grocery retailers across the U.S.,” New Age CEO Brent Willis said during an interview with Forbes.

In the midst of the farm-to-table movement, a lot of what we are hearing in the restaurant industry is talk about locally-sourced menus and cooking in accordance with the seasons.

The concept, in theory, is great and all and it’s exciting for chefs when they are able to work with the freshest of ingredients grown in the farm down the street, but is this concept sustainable in every part of the country?

In this first episode of Chef AF, our host Chef Jim Berman sits down with Chef Hari Cameron, a semi-finalist for the James Beard “Rising Star Chef Of The Year” award in 2013 for his restaurant a(MUSE), to discuss why local-only isn’t going to work. They will chat about the reality of cooking with the seasons in certain parts of the country, best practices, and, even, how to strike a balance to keep businesses afloat.

“If we only ate locally, we would only be eating hydroponically or really hearty meals...,” says Chef Cameron.

Chef Cameron opened his Rehoboth Beach (Delaware) restaurants, a(MUSE) and Grandpa (MAC), in 2012 and 2015 respectively and found success with both concepts early on from their inception.

“We were cooking food that was exciting to us. We didn’t know anybody was paying attention or even listening,” says Chef Hari Cameron.

Listen to the podcast above to hear the full conversation about not only supporting the local community but the goal of cooking delicious food!

Show Notes:

1:33 - Introducing Chef Hari Cameron of a(MUSE) & Grandpa (MAC)

4:17 - So, why local-only as a concept isn’t going to work?

6:40 - How does Winter shape-shift your menu?

11:06 - What do you say to people who look to do local-only?

13:43 - How do you strike a financial balance to make your business work?

Chef Berman has not only been a longtime Foodable expert contributor, but he’s also been a food writer for multiple publications while simultaneously working in and out of kitchens across the U.S.

Now, as the host of Chef AF, Chef Berman will have the chance to get his peers to “talk shop,” as he likes to say, in order to help other chefs and restaurant industry professionals navigate the wonderful yet complex kitchen life.

Chef AF, It’s All Food! is officially launching on Foodable Network today and it will soon be available in iTunes, Google Play and Spotify and other podcast listening platforms.

Listen to the first episode above to meet Berman and learn what you can expect to get from this new podcast!

Foodable Network

Foodable is the premier Network for the Restaurant and Hospitality industry. As the leading producer of Social TV, we reach hundreds of thousands of social connections that are targeted operators, foodies, chefs, suppliers, and consumers that thrive on learning more about the industry. Though quickly growing, the Foodable Network, featured on YouTube and iTunes, currently hosts seven shows: Table 42, Rock My Restaurant, Across the Bar, Food as a Lifestyle, On Foodable, Fast Casual Nation and more!

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Our Foodable Top 25 restaurant rankings are not hand-selected or chosen by an editor. These lists are based off of unstructured data from Foodable Labs, which tracks over 171K restaurants and brands, and calculates data based on the mass social audience across multiple markets and countries. The Foodable Top 25 drills down into the local-social audience, or geo-located social actions, in each respective city or market we cover. We seek the real social impact of what people think about the experience of your restaurant at the local level.